In the world of Self Help, a genre to which Americans are peculiarly addicted, Rachel Hollis is suddenly ascendant her diminutive figure bolstered in 6 inch heels, her flawlessly high lighted hair extensions framing her bright, inviting smile. She is the with it cream at the very top of an already fulsome pitcher. Her enthusiastic Girl, You Can Do It inspires millions of women to reach deep into their pockets and plunk down their money with a restless hope. Whether they wash their faces and take...
Aug 15, 2019•41 min
Are humans alone in the cosmos, or does some Divine Being watch over our lives? Is there a God who loves us, or are we left to ourselves? And how might human evil affect our ability to give an answer? Such questions arise from Cormac McCarthys 2006 Pulizter Prize winning, postapocalyptic novel The Road, a story in which the evil that has ruined the world is entirely the fault of humans. By juxtaposing moments of faith and despair, McCarthy reveals just how potent is the human capacity to affect ...
Aug 08, 2019•57 min
David Boonins new book Beyond Roe Why Abortion Should Be Legal Even if the Fetus Is a Person hits the shelves as the world ramps up the political wars over abortion. The Supreme Courts ideological make up may have shifted for the first time in decades as a result of President Trumps appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Abortion rights supporters fear that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision responsible for protecting the right to an abortion in all fifty states, may be in j...
Aug 01, 2019•43 min
Watching a respected Christian walk away from his or her Christian faith the theological term is apostatize can be deeply disorienting. It leads us to ask all sorts of questions What argument against Christianity did they find so persuasive, and would I be persuaded by that same argument? What happened to them to make them exchange the Christian worldview for one so radically different? If they were formerly a well known Christian writer, musician, pastor, or leader, what does their deconversion...
Jul 25, 2019•44 min
A film review of I Am Mother Directed by Grant Sputore Streaming on Netflix, TV 14, 2019 Editors Note: Warning! This article contains plot spoilers for the film I Am Mother. Connoisseurs of science fiction cinema may not all agree on the core list of great making properties of a film or television series, but many would acknowledge that strong philosophical themes are a key element of a compelling storyline. Usually, such themes involve the ethics that come into play with hypothetical technologi...
Jul 18, 2019•40 min
Move over, Harry Potter there is a new icon in magical fantasy entertainment, and her name is Sabrina. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina CAOS, a Netflix series now in its second season April 2019, has fast become one of the most popular shows on TV, ranked second behind the recently ended HBO series Game of Thrones. Based on the Archie comics of the same name by Roberto Aguierre Sacasa, this companion series to Riverdale TV show is set in the nearby town of Greendale. These Chilling Adventures are ...
Jul 11, 2019•42 min
The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS, or Mormon have reversed a Church policy that was implemented just three and a half years earlier. The original policy made on November 3, 2015, stated how a natural or adopted child of a parent living in a same gender relationship, whether the couple is married or cohabiting, may not receive a name and a blessing. In addition, the baptism of a child of a parent who has lived or is living in a same gender relationship was allowed...
Jun 27, 2019•37 min
Hardly a day goes by without an editorial or video being published by a concerned parent lamenting their childrens obsession with Fortnite. If you are a parent yourself, as summer approaches, you are likely bracing yourself for the barrage of requests for more screen time to play with friends. From June 2018 to March 2019, Fortnites player base grew from 125 million players to 250 million, making it one of the most popular games in the world. Depending on who you talk to, Fortnite is either a co...
Jun 20, 2019•51 min
Since it is a safe generalization to say that every person who has ever lived has experienced evil in some form or fashion, including pain and suffering, answering the problem of evil is a formidable task. Due to the breadth and depth of the effects of evil, the problem of evil is not only the number one intellectual obstacle to belief in God, but also the number one emotional obstacle to belief in God. The emotional problem of evil, an aversion to a God who would allow suffering and evil, is ev...
Jun 13, 2019•44 min
Ban Conversion Therapy is the current rallying cry of the gay rights movement. Across the United States, LGBTQ activists and their allies call for the criminalization of counseling geared to helping people turn from homosexual behavior a form of counsel often labeled Conversion Therapy, and most of that counseling is provided by Christian counselors, pastors, or ministry leaders. Conversion Therapy remains poorly defined, subject to reinterpretations according to the whims of whoever criticizes ...
Jun 06, 2019•44 min
Early on the morning of May 5, 2019, Rachel Held Evans, only 37, died suddenly after a brief hospitalization. She left behind her husband, two very young children, and a theological legacy that will take years to unravel. She was immediately and intensely mourned on Twitter, her preferred social media platform and a Christian subcultural space she helped shape. Evans fled Bible belt evangelicalism for the comfortable doubts of The Episcopal Church, frustrated that she had not been able to carve ...
May 28, 2019•47 min
It seems like every student copies others homework and to some students it seems as if teachers dont care if students cheat. And so, the copying proceeds without a thought or care. The assignment is turned in with the confident hope of a perfect score. The over inflated grade point average is maintained, along with the future hope for admission into a prestigious college and, ultimately, a posh job. Given this mentality, pervasive among students and parents, the recent college admissions scandal...
May 23, 2019•45 min
Editors Note: This conversation includes plot spoilers from the film Tolkien.The new film biopic Tolkien covers the early years of the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This podcast is a conversation about J.R.R. Tolkiens early life, his Christian faith, themes in his work, his love of languages, and why his work has such staying power more than seventy five years after first being published.This Postmodern Realities podcast episode is a conversation with Journal author Phi...
May 16, 2019•39 min
In her new bestselling book, Shameless A Sexual Reformation, Nadia Bolz Weber, a foul mouthed, irreverent, tattoo covered pastor, posits that the traditional Christian view of sex has resulted in damaged souls who are mistreated, confused, angered, and or wounded by the shaming sexual messages so prevalent in religion. Her thesis is that the Christian church for centuries has tried to control human sexuality and that a new sexual ethic is in order. This podcast discussion unpacks Bolz Webers vie...
May 09, 2019•39 min
Sometimes our evangelism efforts have been received with angry outbursts and personal insults by those rejecting God and the Bible. What should we do when those with whom we share the gospel are adverse? Sometimes Christians quote Matthew 7:6, Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you ESV to posit that there are some people who are hostile to the gospel that we should not share with. What does that verse reall...
May 02, 2019•36 min
Christians concerns for social justice have a rich history, rooted in the Lords commands and compassion revealed in Scripture. Biblically, justice is grounded ultimately in Gods character, who is just and calls us to be just because we are made in His image. Thus, the standard for justice is universal it is Gods communicable attribute, which is immaterial. While Christians agree that people should be just, much depends on how we answer two major questions. First, what kind of things are justice ...
Apr 25, 2019•55 min
The biblical depiction of Moses as an ancient leader par excellence, albeit a somewhat reluctant one, is wholly believable despite scholarly claims to the contrary. Some recent interpretations anachronistically analyze the historicity and leadership of Moses with little concern for comparative ancient data or context. One example compares him to George Washington, as a jack of all trades leader, who is essentially too good to be true. For many scholars, Moses is a mythic figure whose life accoun...
Apr 11, 2019•32 min
Editors Note: This episode contains an extended discussion about emotional and physical child abuse and thus its content may not be appropriate for all listeners. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you Exod. 20:12 ESV. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Col 3:20.Scripture commands us to honor our parents, but how do Christians do that if they were abused by their parents? This episode covers...
Apr 11, 2019•31 min
Trigger Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of various types of abortions. Therefore, this content might be disturbing and traumatizing and not suitable for some listeners. During the fall of 2018, a public and brutal Supreme Court nomination battle saw Judge Brett Kavanaugh assume the seat left vacant by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the highest courts perennial swing vote, establishing an assumed conservative majority. Those who defend abortion as a fundamental right fear that the p...
Apr 05, 2019•1 hr
While there are many potentially healthy shaping influences for a Christians spiritual growth, one of the greatest shaping influences neglected by many Christians today is the Christian calendar. A 2016 survey done by LifeWay Research reveals that fewer than three in ten American evangelicals observe Lent 28 percent. Even 40 percent of Roman Catholics surveyed said they did not observe Lent. This general neglect of observing the Christian calendar is lamentable. God desires that His people be co...
Mar 28, 2019•37 min
Editors note We realize that various interpretations and reactions to storyline elements in this film and their ramifications have been debated. We offer this review as one plausible viewpoint. Please also be aware there are spoilers in this episode, as major plot points are discussed. A weak and problematic entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the female centric Captain Marvel is heavy handed and artless in its themes. The topic of feminism in the female empowerment sense and its relations...
Mar 21, 2019•38 min
Perhaps the most difficult and emotionally charged question ever asked the pastor or apologist is why God let a particular child suffer or die. The question is rarely abstract. Ive never been asked why God lets children die. Im asked why God let six year old Ethan get killed by a car while he was skateboarding or why God let four year old Kaylee die of leukemia. The typical Christian answer is, We wont know until we get to heaven. Of course, we will certainly know more when we get to heaven, but...
Mar 14, 2019•39 min
The classic film 200 A Space Odyssey played on the fear that computers would soon become conscious, independent, and dangerous to humanity. A fear of computers is not just the stuff of scifi nightmares but also is shared by Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. They need not worry. While Kubrick, Hawking, Musk, Gates, and the rest of us should be afraid of what some people armed with supercomputers and artificial intelligence can do to us, we have no need to fear what the computers themsel...
Mar 07, 2019•33 min
Pulse Evolution is an entertainment company that used a hologram technique several years ago to summon the ghost of slain rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival. The necromantic language seems appropriate. This was not a music video per se, but a live performance. Whether Ghost Dancing will become a new entertainment venue or just another passing fad remains to be seen, but it says something about the progression of celebrity culture born more than a century ago out of the Graphic R...
Feb 28, 2019•35 min
Nothing is the great dread that threads Ernest Hemingways literary work. Most of his characters believe that nothing awaits them at death. Their machismo is a stance that both accepts and defies lifes collapse into nothing. For Hemingway, it is Christ crucified and not Christ resurrected that holds interest. His work demonstrates that this world leaves each human, ultimately, alone. This Postmodern Realities episode is an in-depth conversation with JOURNAL author Stephen Mitchell about his artic...
Feb 21, 2019•53 min
In the beginning, ancient aliens visited planet Earth, significantly influenced human history, and possibly even engineered human life to evolve. Furthermore, as a result of ancient alien visitations, history is replete with clues regarding these alien astronauts. Flying saucers and little green men may seem the stuff of 1950s B movies, yet ideas like the ones just described are gaining momentum not only in popular culture but also in some scientific circles. Such ideas have also made their way ...
Feb 14, 2019•32 min
Humans may disagree on what behaviors are moral, or on the best way to make specific moral decisions. Even so, our fundamental concept of goodness has to come from somewhere. This is what the moral argument for the existence of God addresses. Put simply, morality exists therefore, God exists. For a culture intoxicated by naturalism, morality provides a strong reason to believe in a Creator the prerequisite for belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ. For many Christians, the moral argument...
Feb 07, 2019•35 min
Emotional religious doubt presents an enigma. Exceptionally prevalent and sometimes excruciatingly painful, religious doubt is experienced by believers in a wide variety of ways. Distraught sentiments often appear habitually as agonized What if scenarios. Viewed in the context of other forms of doubt, there are many differences. However, the common notions of how to progress toward healing doubt are frequently very wide of the mark, and can be counterproductive. For example, Christian evidences ...
Jan 31, 2019•24 min
We live in a world broken by sin. One manifestation of brokenness is found in those living with disabilities. God shows great affection for the lost, including those who live with brokenness the blind, lame, crippled, etc. It behooves us to ask how we can more effectively respond to this vast and often forgotten population. We ask, How can the church share the Good News with people whose intellectual capacities are affected by disability ? First we affirm that all people are fallen and need rede...
Jan 24, 2019•31 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author James N. Anderson about his article The Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit How Do You Know That the Bible Is Gods Word? Topics covered in this episode include what is meant by the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit? Why is it important to know that the Bible is Gods Word, and isnt it enough to just to have faith? Is there any biblical basis for the idea of the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit? Is the internal test...
Jan 17, 2019•38 min
